The Town of Okotoks and other municipalities will soon need approval from the Province before making deals with the federal government.
The Provincial Priorities Act (Bill 18) requires provincial entities to get approval from the Alberta's minister of municipal affairs before entering, renewing or making changes to agreements with the federal government.
The new rules take effect on April 1. Organizations under the legislation will need to submit information about any agreement, along with a copy of the agreement, to the Province.
The legislation allows for oversight of funding arrangements between provincial organizations and the federal government and supports Alberta’s government in pushing back against federal overreach, the Province said.
Entities under the legislation include library boards, regional services commissions, municipally controlled corporations, and entities established by a bylaw, except for business improvement areas.
Some agreements are exempt, including those under $100,000, but details of exempt proposals still need to be submitted to the Province.
In Okotoks, Town staff said the rules could impact housing grants, transit and transportation, and climate or energy related projects.
Other concerns raised by staff during the Okotoks council meeting on March 10 include the amount of time it could take the Province to approve an agreement.
Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA), an association of counties and municipal districts in Alberta, said in a statement that the legislation reduces municipal autonomy, increases red tape, and could delay or exclude federal funding for local projects.
RMA said provincial priorities need to be clearly defined by the Province and the $100,000 threshold for exemptions should be higher.
Alberta Municipalities said the Province needs to ensure agreements can be quickly reviewed.
Okotoks Mayor Tanya Thorn said the legislation is a drastic change in how municipalities access federal funding when it was announced last spring.
Micromanagement at its finest from a tone deaf government who don’t know their own communities.
Pretty hypocritical to claim federal government overreach when this government is taking paid trips to the US to have talks outside their jurisdiction.
Queen Danielle working on what’s in her own best interests…. again. How MAGA of her…
Let's face it, Danielle is a control freak of the highest order. She has to stick her mug into everything then she is surprised and plays dumb when something untoward happens.
Excuse me, Danielle, but you don’t speak for all of us Albertans. It’s fairly clear you’re gonna mine eastern slopes, that we don’t want. You didn’t put money into education and healthcare, which we do want. We don’t want you going down and licking Trump‘s boots, which you seem to wanna do. I can’t wait for the election to get you out of that seat.
Wow. Talk about "overreach." Shows how much ideology comes into everything these incompetent control freaks do, and how little interest they actually HAVE in improving conditions for people, a.k.a. GOVERNING.
Headline should read, "Slithering Smith continues to impoverish Albertans and leaves more federal money on the table". The United Control-Freak Party.